Recipe: Chicken Fajita Pasta

This has quickly become a favorite meal for my parents and me. I stumbled across it on Pinterest one day and decided that we had to make it one night for supper. We made it one night last week and it was soooo delicious. It even made for great leftovers! Although, fair warning, it will stain your skirt if you accidentally drop a piece of pasta in your lap :(

It was my meal of choice to shop for and cook on Sunday night this week. I enlisted the help of my dad with the chicken cooking part {I don't know what makes that part so tricky but it is!} and with the photo documentation of the process.

Chicken Fajita Pasta

{original recipe by Kevin & Amanda}

Ingredients

1+ lbs chicken breasts

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 packet of fajita seasoning

3-4 cloves garlic

1 tsp minced onions

2 tbsp olive oil

1 14.5oz can chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 10oz can of Rotel

8oz penne pasta {we usually end up using 3/4 box of pasta}

1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Chop! Cut your chicken into small, bite sized pieces and cut up both bell peppers into small pieces as well. Mince garlic.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet on the stove. Once hot, add the chicken in a single layer, season with half a packet of fajita seasoning, and cook without stirring for 1-2 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until browned. Remove the chicken and set to the side.

3. In the same skillet, add in another 1 tablespoon of olive oil and heat back up. Once hot, add in your bell peppers, season with the remainder of the packet of fajita seasoning, and cook until peppers begin to blacken.

4. Add in garlic and minced onions, stirring until garlic becomes fragrant. Remove veggies and set to the side.

5. In the same skillet, add the broth, the cream, the Rotel, the uncooked pasta, and salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes or until done, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the chicken and veggies back to the skillet and stir to combine. Cook for about two more minutes until everything is heated through and the liquid is mostly absorbed.

7. Enjoy!

Cooking the chicken always freaks me out because it sears very quickly in the hot skillet once you drop the chicken in. Then it sticks to the pan and you try to flip it but it won't flip and ah! Dad to the rescue. He's stepped in both times we've cooked this to man the stove during this part of the cooking process. I can handle the chopping and the rest of the cooking, but the chicken part is definitely my least favorite portion.

Luckily, this meal is AMAZING and totally worth the effort.

We add a little extra pasta and chicken to the dish than the original recipe and leave out fresh onions, using minced instead. I don't add any pepper to this one because it's fairly spicy already. I'd recommend tasting this one first before deciding to go with any ground black pepper or red pepper flakes!